Reviews by cbros:

A- Pours a jet black color with a small one finger tan lace. Overall a good looking beer.

S- I am picking up the roasted malt notes right off the bat. There are also hints of coffee and chocolate. A nice smelling beer.

T- I am picking up roasted malt and hints of coffee and chocolate flavors that were present in the smell. There is a somewhat bitter start through finish to this beer. I am also picking up an alcohol flavor that helps finish the taste off.

A good tasting beer that I am glad to have saved for this long. Terrapin is consistently puttiong out top notch brews. Props to them for this beer and I can't wait to try other offerings from them.

More User Reviews:

This is very interesting concept putting a Belgian yeast strain in a imperial stout,it works well.Poured into a goblet black as night,no light showing thru this one,the name fits it well,a thinner mocha colored head atop.Aromas have just a slight yeasty spice to it,mainly dark roast and dark fruit,a hint of vanilla shows thru as well.Smooth and creamy feel just makes this beer go down so easy.Flavors are of dark fruit and dark roast coffee at the onset,there is a light spice imparted from the yeast but it doesnt get in the way.As the beer warms a little bit of a raw earthiness in the finsh.More imy stout than Belgian dark but either way I really liked it.

Rarely does a well made beer take a hit for looks, but the thin head on this thin pour actually seems to struggle to form before it quickly vanishes. It's black, but the carbonation seems weird. The bubbling suggests mor Dr. Pepper or A&W Root Beer than Belgian Strong Dark.

I'll admit I grabbed this from the back of the fridge--typically the coldest part--but I smell very little dark fruit. I mean I smell and sniff REALLY hard and I get maybe a LITTLE dark fruit. A fig or a plum. No Belgian yeast.

I'm not so sure about this "Belgian stout" style, but I didn't really expect something so plain with what appears as a one-off "dark sider." It's so plain. In a way, it actually tastes like the root beer it so resembled! Just a bit of alcohol zing and warmth proves otherwise. A bit of raisin and dark fruit travel a fermentation whose sole "Belgian" influence seems nothing more than carbonation--it imparts basically nothing to smell or to taste. Though the beer feels all right, this overriding non-Belgianness is disappointing.

22oz into a Founders Tulip. #9 in the Side Project Series. Aged 14 months in my cellar.

Pours pitch black with a nice tan foam cap. No light comes through this one. Plenty of lacing.

Aromas of belgian yeast live in the background on this one. Sweet roasted malts upfront, with a lovely wood element.

This beer is definitely more on the stout side of things. The Belgian yeast provides a touch of dark fruit, but mostly it's a slightly sweet imperial stout. Wood comes through in the flavor, too - which is odd because this isn't wood aged.

Mouth is medium full. Usually, Belgian style stouts come out way too watery, but not here. Mouthfeel is a stron point of the brew.

Drinks very well. Overall, this beer comes out a nice blend of BSDA and Stout, and is one of the best Belgian Style Stouts I've had. It's also the 2nd best Terrapin side project to this point, IMO - behind #12.

On draft at the Mad Mex pours a pitch balck hue with a creamy tan head, thin even speckled layes of lacing. Aroma has a black patent malt dark chocolate mild booziness, even a touch of anise hidden in their with some dark fruits. Flavor more dark fruit hints of cocoa more soothing alcohol burn, defiinitely not overpowering. A molasses and brown sugar collision that remains balanced with some herbal hops and spicy yeast combo. Mouthfeel is medium to fuller bodied efferevescent well choreographed carbonation level, nothing cloying did I mention this was a 12 ounce pour. Drinkability some rough spots but overall an enjoyable experience, will definitely age well if you have any big bottles hanging around.

Pours black with a half-finger tan head. The head slowly recedes into a thin layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of roasted malts with hints of unsweetened chocolate. As it warms good amounts of light fruits - dried bananas - waft out but remain second "banana" to the roasted malt and chocolate aromas.

Tastes good. Roasted malt flavors up front are joined shortly by dark chocolate flavors. Midway through the sip mild dark fruit flavors - raisins mostly with hints of prunes - enter into things. As with the smell as it warms very small amounts of banana flavors are present. The ending is mildly bitter and leaves fruit flavors - either dark or light - lingering on the palate.

Hard to believe this is already the 9th beer of the side project series. I'm excited to try this one.

A- Pours a dark black with just a hint of brown when held up to the light with a light tan head.

S- The aroma is very nice. The nose consists of a nice mixture of dark roasted malts and mocha. Not as roasty and hopppy as in the aroma as your typical Imperial Stout with maybe a little more cocoa notes. I'm liking it so far.

T- The taste like the aroma starts off with a sweet and slightly roasted malt backbone with some bittersweet chocolate and a hint of coffee. It is very sweet throughout the taste, almost to the point where you say enough with the sweetness. Then a good amount of roastiness in the finish to balance the sweetness. I like it, not overly complex but it is a very well crafted beer. Good stuff!

M- The mouthfeel is somewhere between light and medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation.

D- Overall, I really enjoyed the Dark Side. It's another solid beer in the Side Project Series. I can't wait for number 10!

Pours a dark brown color - near black, but still noticeably brown. Off-white (almost grayish) thin head that fades fairly quickly and leaves minimal lacing. What head you do briefly get has an interesting spotty, frothy, bubbly look - but it's gone before you blink.

Aroma is mostly cocoa with that subtle Belgian yeast undertone and slight coffee notes. Taste brings much of the same. I think another reviewer summed it up very well - this brew straddles the line between subtle and bland. I found the mouthfeel to be a bit too thin, but maybe that's the style? Despite the thin mouthfeel, this brew manages to be pretty heavy in your gut. Drinkability is pretty typical for a stout.

I really wanted to like this brew - I love stouts, I love Belgians and I love Terrapin. Seemed like a match made in heaven. I'm glad I tried it since it is quite unique, but to be honest, I felt like it came up short.

22 oz. Very dark brown pour with a small amount of tan bubbles that form the ring.
Aroma has light cocoa and roast with malted milk ball.
Taste has the same with a little more. Pretty sweet like a chocolate malt with raisin, fig and just the faintest hint of the banana from the Belgian yeast. Mouthfeel is smooth with not a lot of carbonation going down. Pretty unique.
The sweetness is the only chink that could hurt the drinkability, otherwise very little alcohol and easy drinking.
I thought this was excellent compared to other Belgian stouts, which means I don't like them or this is not quite to style.
Most of the side projects have been at least descent and this meets the standard if not more.

A: The stout (and I'll stick with stout over BSDA) is a dark black color that shows off red highlights at the narrowest part of the base. A finger and a half of head has left a few spare legs of lace.

S: The nose is yeasty sweet. You know how Belgian yeast strains impart a dark fruity zing that doesn't skimp on candi sugars to the point that it crowds out everything else including the stout component? That's what this one does. Oh yeah, and it's a little roasty.

T: I'm sold on stout until the first sip. The yeast has kicked the stout side's ass. In place of roasted flavors, candi sugars and dark figgy/raisiny fruits pop up. Behind the intense sweetness, roasted malts hang around, chocolatey and burnt. More sweetness returns on the backside, a juicy finish.

M: The stout works both angles admirably, showcasing roasted malts and an abundance of yeast. One of the better, more coalesced Belgian-style stouts.

D: The ale doesn't feel like 8.5% until you are half way through the bomber. From that point on, it seems very heavy. One of the first stouts to really nail the Belgo crossover.

Pours opaque black with no head other than a tiny bit of lacing around the sides.

Plenty of roasted malt aromas with notes of chocolate, coffee, and raisin. A hint of spice but not too much in the way of Belgian yeast. A bit of sweetness and some alcohol present towards the end.

Lots of coffee and chocolate malt flavors, again with a bit of raisin. A slight bitterness, but it is fairly sweet as well. Again the Belgian yeast doesn't play a huge role here. The alcohol is just about completely hidden.

A medium, rather delicate body with a very smooth feel.

Overall: fair complexity, but nothing special compared to other imperial stouts of Belgian darks. As noted, the Belgian aspects from the yeast didn't come through for me, other than providing the smooth and delicate body. Still, with the hidden alcohol content and great flavor, this is certainly a drinkable beer.

The overall appearance is like any other Imperial Stout, pitch black with a steady brown head. The aroma is very roasty, with hints of molasses, raisin, coffee and chocolate. The flavor is bitter, mostly from the malts, with a little bit of bitter chocolate to compliment. In both the aroma and flavor the Belgian yeast gives off its characteristics, adding dark fruit and some light spiciness. Full bodied with a good amount of carbonation, adding some fizz to the tongue.

Terrapin has created another gem with this one. Exactly what a Belgian Stout should be. Highly recommended.

From short bar notes. I didn't review this as a BSDA considering the obvious RIS influence.

The Dark Side definitely looks like an RIS. Black, opaque with a thin tan head. Little lacing but a solid ring around the glass.
BSDA and RIS are there in the nose. Dark sugary fruits and hint of pepper were followed by deeper roasted coffee malts. Neither overbearing nor complex but definitely present and pleasant. The flavor profile essentially mirrors the smell. Plums, dates, raisins, pepper backed up by a coffee malt backbone. Once again there isn't complex BSDA or RIS flavors here but the mix of the two in the same beer strikes a great chord with me.
A great overall body that accentuates qualities of both styles on display here. High carbonation in the BSDA vein and a thick,creamy mouthfeel to complete the RIS side of the pair.

I have to say the name for this beer is perfect. Belgian style Imperial Stout is exactly what this beer shows at every turn. Belgian qualities lead off each smell/taste/feel leaving the RIS qualities to close each out. Excellent beer and one I would have loved to have more of.